Maybe that is why she never lets any of us get close to her.

Maybe that is why she never lets any of us get close to her.
“They said Leon took you home yesterday. Is that true?”
What was supposed to be a quiet lunch turned into something else the moment Alvero asked that. He leaned forward, watching Carissa closely like he was not going to let her dodge this. He had missed Leon’s class the day before, and now it felt like everyone else knew something he did not.
News spread fast on campus. People talked too much, and that made things easier for him. He had already heard that Carissa almost fainted, and somehow Leon’s name had been dragged into it. That part did not sit well with him.
“Who told you that?” Carissa asked before putting a meatball into her mouth.
“I heard it from Jinan.”
Carissa paused mid-chew.
Jinan? The engineering guy? As far as she knew, there was only one Jinan like that on campus, Jinan Angkasa from another faculty. Still, she needed to be sure.
“Jinan from engineering?” she asked.
Alvero nodded right away.
Carissa stared at him, not sure what to say. She could not believe something like that had already reached students from another faculty. It felt unreal.
“So it is true?” Alvero asked again. “Leon took you home?”
Carissa set her spoon and fork down, then folded her arms on the table like she was getting ready for whatever came next.
“Yes, Al.”
“How did that even happen?”
He had not touched his food at all. The bowl in front of him had gone cold, forgotten. From the moment they sat down, he had not stopped asking questions.
“It sounds weird, right?” Carissa gave a small laugh, more at herself than anything else. She knew how it looked. If Alvero ever found out she lived in the same house as Leon, he would probably stop talking to her for weeks.
“No, it is not weird,” Alvero said quickly. “I just… how did it happen?”
He scratched the back of his neck, trying to figure out how to say it. When Carissa did not answer, he reached across the table and took her hand, holding it gently as he looked at her.
“This is progress, Car,” he said, his face lighting up. “Yesterday you could finally like a guy, and now you can even get close to someone like Leon. You should tell Angelina about this soon.”
His smile was wide, and his eyes were full of real happiness. He looked like he had been waiting for this, like he truly wanted her to live like any other girl.
Alvero liked her, that much was clear. But he never pushed her or forced her to feel the same way. He chose to stay by her side and support her instead. It was not easy, and maybe it hurt more than he showed, but what he felt for her was bigger than his pride.
Carissa pressed her lips together.
Because of what she had not told him about Leon, she could not say anything now. There was no way she could admit that the man she liked was the same one who had taken her home.
“Al—”
She did not get to finish.
“Wow, sitting together alone like this in the middle of the day?”
Langit’s voice cut in as he walked over with the others. Without asking, he dropped into the seat beside Alvero, dragging Jinan with him. Two more followed and squeezed in around Carissa, leaving her stuck between them.
“Why, is that not allowed in the afternoon?” Alvero shot back, finally taking a bite of his now cold food.
“It is not allowed,” Frisco said, nudging Carissa with his elbow. “It is still bright outside. People will notice.”
Carissa only gave a small smile, but her eyes shifted toward Alvero, silently asking for help. Sitting between Frisco and Marcel felt too close. They looked relaxed, but she was not.
“Car, you are not even eating,” Marcel said when he noticed her untouched food.
Carissa turned to him. He gave her an easy smile.
“I am about to,” she replied, trying to sound normal.
Inside, she kept repeating Leon’s words from yesterday. She needed to live in the present. She needed to stop letting the past control her. So she forced herself to stay there, even as her chest felt heavy and her stomach turned.
“Do you want Ucok to feed you, Car?” Jinan said with a teasing grin.
Frisco immediately played along, clearly ready to take advantage of the joke. Alvero let out a quiet sound, annoyed by the whole thing.
“Isco, why did you come all the way here to eat?” Carissa asked, her voice soft in a way that made people listen.
Frisco went still for a second, clearly not expecting her to speak to him first. He nudged her arm again, but this time he looked a little shy.
“There is no one as pretty as you in our canteen,” he said, and the others laughed and started teasing him.
Marcel only smiled, while Alvero’s expression darkened.
“Co, switch seats with me,” Alvero said as he pushed his chair back and stood up.
“What is wrong with you? I am eating and you want me to move?” Frisco replied, his accent slipping out more as he spoke.
“It is just switching seats. You are not going to lose anything,” Alvero insisted.
But Frisco shook his head.
There was no way he was moving from that seat. Sitting next to Carissa like this did not happen often, and even the way she smelled made him want to stay right there.
Seeing them go back and forth, Marcel stood up. “Just switch with me, Al.”
That settled it.
Alvero moved to Marcel’s seat and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before sitting down beside Carissa. “Thanks, Cel.”
“Carissa.”
The voice came from behind them, deep and familiar.
Everyone turned at the same time.
Leon stood there with both hands in his pockets, his presence alone enough to change the mood. Carissa stood up right away, looking at him in confusion.
“Yes, sir?”
“Come with me.”
He did not wait for her answer. He reached for her hand and pulled her along without asking, leading her out of the canteen.
The table fell silent.
All five of them watched as Carissa disappeared with him around the corner.
“So Dinne was right,” Frisco said, his face tight with irritation. “There is definitely something going on between her and that new lecturer.”
“What if he has been her boyfriend this whole time?” Jinan added. “Maybe that is why she never lets any of us get close to her.”
“Carissa is the class rep for his subject in my class,” Marcel said, his tone even. “They are close because she helps him deal with the students.”
Langit kept staring in the direction they left. “I want to say he is trying too hard to look cool, but the guy is actually cool. Damn it.”
Jinan laughed at that.
“Al, why are you so quiet? Did your heart break?” Frisco asked, nudging him.
Alvero shot him a look, clearly annoyed.
“Same here,” Frisco continued, placing a hand on his chest like he was in pain. “My heart is broken too.” But Alvero did not laugh. He only looked away, his mind no longer on anything they were saying.